The Slightly Bruised Glory of Cedar B. Hartley by Martine Murray
Authors: Martine Murray
Tags: JUV000000
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lived with us, even though it was only a month. I knew it was a month because I was counting the days that I hadnât heard from Kite. Every time the mail came I was disappointed. Iâd even tried to pretend to myself that I wasnât expecting anything, but that didnât work.
So Aunt Squeezy was gazing out the window and I was gazing inwards at my tiny singularities when Barnaby and Ada walked in.
âWhatâs going on, ladies?â said Barnaby. He had his arm around Ada, but she didnât have her arm around him. She leant into him and smiled at us, just a tiny smile.
âCedarâs trying to work out how sheâs unusual and Iâm cooking lentil soup. Are you two in for dinner?â
Barnaby looked at Ada, who shrugged. She never stayed for dinner, so it was hard to read the shrug. Maybe it meant she didnât care. I liked her long black hair, which went all the way to her elbows and spread out like a curtain over her red jumper. Somehow she always managed to look dramatic, to look like tragedy and glamour.
âMaybe,â said Barnaby.âWeâre just going to rehearse a few songs in my room first.â
Typical, I thought. Non-committal. I hardly ever tried to talk to Ada. In some way she scared me. She didnât appear to love me at all, and that made me feel bad around her, so I didnât care if they werenât in for dinner anyway. Well, maybe I did. I liked it when everyone sat down together. It made me feel like we were a gang.
Of course I quizzed Barnaby on what he was talking about with Kite, but he claimed not to remember. I donât believe him, but Iâve had to give up because if thereâs anyone who can match my persistence with resistance itâs Barnaby. I think it actually amuses him to beat me.
He ruffled my hair, even though that also annoys me, and as he was walking out he said, âYou were just born unusual, Cedy. You came out upside-down.â
âAt least I didnât come out with a big mouth,â I yelled after them, and I think I heard Ada let out a little laugh. I was glad about that. I was glad she laughed because she sometimes seems to be made of glass instead of skin. But see, we all have skin and it hurts when you poke it. Even Ada. Even Harold and Marnie. Even that strange family that arrived in the night at the Abutulas. I was thinking about them, when I wasnât thinking about Kite, that is; when I wasnât âmopingâ, as Mum said, or limping around lovesick, as Barnaby said. I was thinking about that family and I didnât even know why. I started to figure that maybe I had to find out who they were and then Iâd know why I was thinking about them.
But for once it wasnât me who worked it out.
Chapter 11
Actually, all of a sudden there was a lot of secret stuff going on around our house. It had something to do with Aunt Squeezy, I could tell that much, but I couldnât tell if Barnaby was in on it or not because he was also acting a bit weird. Or maybe he was acting a bit normal, which was weird because heâs not normal; heâs half wizard and half zebra. Not really. Heâs just like the bit of wood on a fence that juts out. But, lately, even he was quiet or in-place somehow.
All I can say is there was an atmosphere of secret, muffled conversations, puzzled expressions, shut doors and empty late-night wine bottles growing in the recycle box. And there was a letter that arrived for Aunt Squeezy, and it came from Italy; a thin pale blue envelope covered in large stamps and elegant spindly lettering. I found it, of course, in the letterbox, where there should have been a letter from Kite. But there wasnât, only that exotic-looking thing and a gas bill. I slid it across the table towards Aunt Squeezy, hoping I might get to soak up some of her excitement, but she just opened her eyes in alarm, stared at it as if she didnât quite believe it was real and then, as if on
So Aunt Squeezy was gazing out the window and I was gazing inwards at my tiny singularities when Barnaby and Ada walked in.
âWhatâs going on, ladies?â said Barnaby. He had his arm around Ada, but she didnât have her arm around him. She leant into him and smiled at us, just a tiny smile.
âCedarâs trying to work out how sheâs unusual and Iâm cooking lentil soup. Are you two in for dinner?â
Barnaby looked at Ada, who shrugged. She never stayed for dinner, so it was hard to read the shrug. Maybe it meant she didnât care. I liked her long black hair, which went all the way to her elbows and spread out like a curtain over her red jumper. Somehow she always managed to look dramatic, to look like tragedy and glamour.
âMaybe,â said Barnaby.âWeâre just going to rehearse a few songs in my room first.â
Typical, I thought. Non-committal. I hardly ever tried to talk to Ada. In some way she scared me. She didnât appear to love me at all, and that made me feel bad around her, so I didnât care if they werenât in for dinner anyway. Well, maybe I did. I liked it when everyone sat down together. It made me feel like we were a gang.
Of course I quizzed Barnaby on what he was talking about with Kite, but he claimed not to remember. I donât believe him, but Iâve had to give up because if thereâs anyone who can match my persistence with resistance itâs Barnaby. I think it actually amuses him to beat me.
He ruffled my hair, even though that also annoys me, and as he was walking out he said, âYou were just born unusual, Cedy. You came out upside-down.â
âAt least I didnât come out with a big mouth,â I yelled after them, and I think I heard Ada let out a little laugh. I was glad about that. I was glad she laughed because she sometimes seems to be made of glass instead of skin. But see, we all have skin and it hurts when you poke it. Even Ada. Even Harold and Marnie. Even that strange family that arrived in the night at the Abutulas. I was thinking about them, when I wasnât thinking about Kite, that is; when I wasnât âmopingâ, as Mum said, or limping around lovesick, as Barnaby said. I was thinking about that family and I didnât even know why. I started to figure that maybe I had to find out who they were and then Iâd know why I was thinking about them.
But for once it wasnât me who worked it out.
Chapter 11
Actually, all of a sudden there was a lot of secret stuff going on around our house. It had something to do with Aunt Squeezy, I could tell that much, but I couldnât tell if Barnaby was in on it or not because he was also acting a bit weird. Or maybe he was acting a bit normal, which was weird because heâs not normal; heâs half wizard and half zebra. Not really. Heâs just like the bit of wood on a fence that juts out. But, lately, even he was quiet or in-place somehow.
All I can say is there was an atmosphere of secret, muffled conversations, puzzled expressions, shut doors and empty late-night wine bottles growing in the recycle box. And there was a letter that arrived for Aunt Squeezy, and it came from Italy; a thin pale blue envelope covered in large stamps and elegant spindly lettering. I found it, of course, in the letterbox, where there should have been a letter from Kite. But there wasnât, only that exotic-looking thing and a gas bill. I slid it across the table towards Aunt Squeezy, hoping I might get to soak up some of her excitement, but she just opened her eyes in alarm, stared at it as if she didnât quite believe it was real and then, as if on
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